LiveHomeVideo's RB4 Tiers Thread 2018 Edition! (On Hiatus Again)

So after over a year of relaxation, I decided I wanted to try yet again to make Rock Band 4 tiers, upon request! Post whatever song you'd like to see me predict possible tiers for, and I'll make a tier picture of it, as well as a short summary of how I liked the song. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

I am using a DIY tier template, as opposed to the online one. This allows me to make tier pictures that look like this.

As implied by the picture above, this means I'll be following RB4 rules for these tiers. That means no keys, and if there are keyboard leads, or an overall lack of guitar, expect to see predictions involving alt-charting. Live versions may have less alt-charting than studio versions, depending on whether there is guitar playing during keyboard parts or not, though solos or parts without guitar may still be alt-charted on those.

One song per request, up to 15 minutes in length. I am making these pictures manually, and as such it takes more time to do every tier. I also don't want to get burnt out like I always do, so best I keep the song limit and time limit low.

I will do tiers maybe once a week-ish. I may do more or less, depending on how busy my week is, but I can't do these as often as I used to.

As I've been doing in past attempts in recent years, I'll impose a content advisory. I'm okay with most anything, except for things that are violently bigoted in some way, or real gore in the album art. If the album art has nudity, etc., I'll have to censor it for the tier thread, because I don't wanna get banned.

If you have an idea for a multi-song theme, feel free to post the songs, but please don't tell me about the theme until after it's done. I get really bad anxiety when I know several songs are coming, and get worried about getting burnt out before I can finish the theme.

Awesome, it's great to see you return to the tiering scene after a year and a half! I'm much looking forward to how this thread turns out Even though the number of songs per request has diminished, I hope that this can, in turn, make tiering less of a chore and help you enjoy it a little more without becoming burnt out. After all, your 3rd tier thread was only one song at a time, and that one ended up being the longest-lasting of your tier threads. Here's to the 6th edition!

Well, in celebration of me finishing Bearstronaut's Telecoast album last night, I'll introduce you to one of my favorites on the album that really impressed me, and even had me a little taken aback. Looking forward to seeing what you think!

This song felt a lot like "Shadow" to me, which I felt was an alright song, one of the better non-metal ones from that initial Rivals free pack. Perhaps not something I'd listen to or play all the time, but 's alright, catchy enough, and would be fun to play! There seemed to be guitar throughout, so much like shadow, there'd be a surprising lack of alt-charting here I feel.

Love the instrumentation, hate the lyrics. I never really liked lyrics about how the other person in a breakup was the worst, kinda gives me the vibe of "Well I'm sure you did something just as bad, if not worse." Again, love the instrumental, though, reminds me of early Sum 41. It'd be pretty fun to play in Rock Band as well, especially the guitar solo that bumps this to a tier 5.

This is actually a favorite from my childhood. I didn't live with my mom for a long while (I'd rather not go into my messed up childhood) but needless to say we were still close. She sent me a sort of mixtape she made of 80's and 90's music when I was in the 2nd grade, and this was early on that tape. I must have heard that whole tape over 100 times. So yeah, I'd love to see this song in Rock Band someday. As for tiers, there wouldn't be much alt-charting involved, since the synth sustains in the chorus, while more prominent, wouldn't be as fun as the guitar pattern during that part. Overall this would be a fun, approachable beginner song on all instruments.

Not really a fan of this, sorry to say. This sort of indie just isn't my cup of tea. I will say it's entirely different than I expected it to be, though. And with that all said, I think it'd be fun to play, at least, with the fiddle alt-charted to guitar on the choruses. Vocals have their moments of difficulty, though perhaps not as difficult as funs' other songs, so I think 4 dots is fine.

I really liked this one, reminded me a bit of Mastodon, with a bit more symphonic influences. I'll have to check this album out sometime, I think it'd be pretty fun in Rock Band as well, with it being a pretty late 5-dot on guitar (there's some shredding in there, though not enough to push it over to devil tier I feel) and a drum part with a ton of ghost snares that push it just over into devil tier.

Interesting, because I thought "Tucson" was fairly different than the safe indie sound of "Shadow" (though that's not discrediting it at all). This one is so much more grandiose, and those explosive instrumental breaks really sold it for me on the first listen. I guess I can see the "Shadow" similarity in the hi-hat-centric drum beat during those breaks, but that's about it. Drums are obviously the highlight here and sound like an absolute blast, with several different beats and fills thrown in to keep things varied. It's probably borderline devils, but not quite there. I will say, there does sound like a gap without guitar in the first verse (when the descending riff isn't playing), and I could maybe see some of the background synths being charted there, but it would be very minor if so. Great tier, and I'm glad you appreciated it!

Keeping up the theme of free Rivals artists I've been listening to lately, I'll give you a Ruby Rose Fox song, which is probably among my favorites in her entire discography. I actually think this would be more fun than "Pain Killer" to a degree, especially on bass, even if it's not one of her most upbeat songs.

I'll probably request some different stuff after this, but I do want to return to both Bearstronaut and Ruby Rose Fox requests in the future. This is just a way to test the waters and see how you like another song by each of them. Expect more requests from them in the future!

Interesting, because I thought "Tucson" was fairly different than the safe indie sound of "Shadow" (though that's not discrediting it at all). This one is so much more grandiose, and those explosive instrumental breaks really sold it for me on the first listen. I guess I can see the "Shadow" similarity in the hi-hat-centric drum beat during those breaks, but that's about it. Drums are obviously the highlight here and sound like an absolute blast, with several different beats and fills thrown in to keep things varied. It's probably borderline devils, but not quite there. I will say, there does sound like a gap without guitar in the first verse (when the descending riff isn't playing), and I could maybe see some of the background synths being charted there, but it would be very minor if so. Great tier, and I'm glad you appreciated it!

Thanks, and with the first verse on guitar, I did hear a faint guitar doing some strumming in the background, which I imagine would be brought up into the mix if it were on Rock Band. Thanks for the feedback, though, and glad you're enjoying the thread!

Really cool to hear you've been a long-time fan of Major Tom! I've been a sucker for synth-heavy new wave for as long as I can recall, and that song is probably one of the best in terms of lyrical subject material. Pretty fair tiers all around - nothing I can really complain about.

My next request is perhaps a bit more obscure: Phantom Blue - "Why Call It Love?" (from Phantom Blue, 1989). A song I believe is horribly overlooked from an overlooked band that was produced by none other than Marty Friedman of Megadeth.

This would be really fun on Rock Band, I feel, and is a pretty fun song in general. Drums are pretty hectic throughout, especially in the beginning. Bass is pretty active, too, though not as difficult as drums, so I think five dots will do. Guitar seemed to be a solid four-dot throughout, and whether or not they would chart the synth solo to guitar, I don't think it'd effect the tier all that much. Vocals seemed the easiest of the bunch, though they also sounded fun.

Sorry to say, but I still don't think I'm into Ruby Rose Fox entirely. This just seems to not be my cup of tea, is all. She's a talented vocalist, but this sort of production isn't really what I look for in a song. That said, it does sound like it'd be fun to play, especially on drums and bass. I've also always felt the Ruby Rose Fox songs were undertiered on vocals in general, and I feel this could be compared to Pain Killer in terms of vocal range, so I think devil tier is fitting,

This song's alright, like the mixing it up between ballad Aerosmith and bluesy Aerosmith. This would be a fun song to see in Rock Band, especially on guitar and vocals. I doubt there'd be any alt-charting here, since guitar is much more prominent in the mix than piano.

I must make a correction, according to what I could find online, this song appears on the 2016 album “The Holographic Principle,” not on “The Quantum Enigma”. This song is pretty cool, and would love to see it on Rock Band! I feel the choir vocals would probably drive the vocal tier really high. I'm thinking during the quiet bridge, the piano would be alt-charted to guitar, though the guitar solo is what drives it up to the devil tier. Drums also have some fast kicks, as well as some slower kicks that I don't think would be reduced, but would be fast enough to warrant perhaps an early devil tier as well, leaving the only instrument not devil-tier being bass, which outside of the heavy bridge doesn't seem as complex as guitar.

As someone who isn't the biggest fan of 80's glam metal, I do think this is a lot better than a lot of what I've heard of the genre. That said, the production seems a bit tinny to me (essentially, the bass frequencies are rather buried), which isn't too big an issue, but I think I'd enjoy it better if it had a bit more of a bass boost. As-is it's pretty alright, though. I feel it'd be a pretty fun warming up sort of song for most of the band, with some tricky patterns in the guitar tier bringing it higher than the rest.

When I looked up this song, the album it's on, etc., I found that it was mid-2000's prog rock from members of Kansas. With the album art of a frickin' buffalo on fire, I was expecting some hard-rocking prog rock. And then I listened, and... it was a bit softer than expected. Song is alright, if a bit forgettable. Sounds like it'd be rather fun on guitar, I'm thinking the chart would be similar to Santana's “Smooth” with a bit more alt-charting. I imagine it'd be rather annoying on drums, though, due to the constant ride cymbals throughout.

This song is great, and I need to hear more of this band! Love how it sort of feels like early Devin Townsend Project, but also has an alt-metal bend to it (also dat keys ) I do think the lead synth would be alt-charted to guitar, but only during parts with no guitar, thus why it isn't devil-tiered on guitar. I feel it'd be a pretty fun challenge on everything.

Can't say I disagree much with your analysis - for my song list I put it as devils on everything but guitar. I chalk that down to two things: I wouldn't have alt-charted anything (meaning that the guitarist would get a brief bit of respite before the heavy bridge), and my tierings would have been relative to the other 90 songs on the list. I don't see there being 13 songs harder than it in my list on bass, but I do see at least 13 being harder on guitar. Bass has a bit more work in the verses too, which justifies the two instruments being about even to me.

Nothing to disagree with on vocals or on drums - even without the choir, Simone's leads alone would have put it in devils to me! Maybe that's just me though.

I just wish we had gotten more symphonic metal/rock during the RB3 era. I mean, we got Amaranthe by Nightwish and I suppose you could stretch as far as counting Evanescence 02 and Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf, but that's about it (unless I'm missing stuff from RBN - which I probably am).

I just wish we had gotten more symphonic metal/rock during the RB3 era. I mean, we got Amaranthe by Nightwish and I suppose you could stretch as far as counting Evanescence 02 and Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf, but that's about it (unless I'm missing stuff from RBN - which I probably am).

There's actually quite a bit of symphonic metal on the RBN! A band called Amberian Dawn have a lot of songs on there, and I highly recommend you check out the band! There's also some Pythia, Ayreon, Devin Townsend, and even some Sonata Arctica.

Fair enough that you weren't into the Ruby Rose Fox song I chose. As I said, I do plan on requesting more from her in the future, so hopefully that was just bad song choice and you can eventually find something you like more from her. The tier looks about right - I do agree that "Pain Killer" is probably warranting of devils on vocals, though I've familiarized myself with it enough to the point that it's an easy FC. The same argument could probably be made for "Skydiver" to an extent. Anyway, this is a really bass-driven song from what I can tell, with guitar actually taking more of a backseat. Personally, I would have put guitar at a 0 or 1 dot, because it really doesn't sound like much is going on in that department (especially during the verses).

My next request will be one of the last songs I requested on your last tiering thread that was left untiered, as you closed it not long after. Conveniently, the other two songs I requested in that post I already had tiered by GameMaster at the time and I just wanted to see how you'd tier them. This was the only "new" request in that post, so to speak. I'll get back to new stuff after this quick carryover request!

I had you tier "Rockin' the Suburbs" in your last thread, but this one is drastically different in comparison. I'd imagine the majority of the guitar tier will be alt-charted piano. Overall it's a pretty simple song, but I quite like it (especially the lyrics).

I just wish we had gotten more symphonic metal/rock during the RB3 era. I mean, we got Amaranthe by Nightwish and I suppose you could stretch as far as counting Evanescence 02 and Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf, but that's about it (unless I'm missing stuff from RBN - which I probably am).

There's actually quite a bit of symphonic metal on the RBN! A band called Amberian Dawn have a lot of songs on there, and I highly recommend you check out the band! There's also some Pythia, Ayreon, Devin Townsend, and even some Sonata Arctica.

All the more reason to curse the fact that RBN's not coming to RB4 any time soon ;-;

When I looked up this song, the album it's on, etc., I found that it was mid-2000's prog rock from members of Kansas. With the album art of a frickin' buffalo on fire, I was expecting some hard-rocking prog rock. And then I listened, and... it was a bit softer than expected. Song is alright, if a bit forgettable. Sounds like it'd be rather fun on guitar, I'm thinking the chart would be similar to Santana's “Smooth” with a bit more alt-charting. I imagine it'd be rather annoying on drums, though, due to the constant ride cymbals throughout.

There are some other songs on Before Became After that would be closer to what you were expecting, but I chose Occasion of Your Honest Dreaming because chill songs with surprisingly hard guitar charts (China Cat Sunflower, Lenny, Rosanna, etc.) are my JAM.

Fair points on the Phantom Blue song. As a huge hairbanger, I'll generally point to some of the more moderately heavy stuff as a good starting point if you want to get the gist of the genre. The girls in Phantom Blue were pretty talented by all means, they just never hit it big. Hair-metal-band-in-'89-syndrome claimed them too.

Their stuff isn't on iTunes either outside of one song on some obscure metal compilation. I found that to be mildly annoying.

Anyway, new tier, and to keep with the theme, it's another '80's song! A woefully underrated new wave track too.

Not a fan of Boyinaband's YouTube content, but this song is pretty alright, actually! Feels like a better Djent remix of Sandstorm than an actual djent remix a friend found one time As for tiers, drums would be nuts, and guitar seems a bit borderline between devils and five dots, though due to most likely having the lead synth alt-charted to guitar at times, I think it'd inch into devil tier. Either way, I feel everything would be a rather high tier here.

“Black Corridor” was also a favorite from the first Rivals pack, and this song is pretty good as well! Weirdly enough, parts of this remind me of Crush 40, though a little bit heavier than that. As for tiers, I think guitar and bass would be rather challenging; perhaps not as hard as Black Corridor, but still worthy of five dots on their respective instruments. Drums have some tricky fills, but overall would be much easier than Black Corridor, and vocals also seem like a nice mid-range in terms of difficulty.

Well you were right, this song is quite different than Rockin' the Suburbs. Though I think the song is kinda forgettable; it's alright, just perhaps not my thing. As for tiers, I do think there'd be quite a lot of alt-charting on both guitar and bass, with guitar getting most of the higher strings and some piano, and with bass perhaps getting some of the lower strings. Overall it'd be an easier song, especially on drums (the only reason it's two dots is because of the rolls in the bridge, otherwise it'd be a definite 0 dots).

Not sure what I was expecting with this, but it sure wasn't this This was an interesting song, having a lot of blues influence, while building more and more of a punk sound throughout. As for tiers, the outro definitely ramped up the drum and guitar tiers, while a lot of the more freeform-style singing makes this a slightly high vocals tier, despite the range not being all that high (outside of the upward slides, of course).

Well that's quite the song title, isn't it? Equally weird song as well, this certainly is something only early 80's New Wave could produce. Bass I imagine would be pretty challenging due to the synth bass playing an awkward down-up pattern during most of it. Guitar would have lead synths charted to it I imagine, and the one weird bridge before the outro chorus might ramp the difficulty up a bit.

I think I've liked every song I've heard from this band thus far. This would be an absolute nightmare on drums, and bass is also rather tricky-sounding (just short of the devil tier, but that bridge sounds like it'd be fun).

Not really a fan of The Band, and this song hasn't really convinced me otherwise. I find The Band kind of underwhelming, and this song in particular kinda strikes a nerve with me, due to the lyrics (not really a fan of songs about how “the ol's South was amazing, and it shoulda stayed!”). I do like that there's a big band here, compared to the songs that are on Rock Band, at least. As for tiers, I'm not entirely sure how much of this would be alt-charted to guitar, so I just listened to the guitar part through most of it.

Funnily enough, I already knew about this song, and actually enjoy it quite a bit! Definitely different than Ministry's current sound, that's for sure. Decided to mark this as from the compilation album “Twelve Inch Singles,” since it wasn't the lead single for the first single it appeared on (that would be “All Day”). Guitar would most definitely have a lot of alt-charting, and I imagine the record scratch solo would be put on guitar, as well as that high-pitched woodblock-like synth, thus the higher tier; otherwise it'd be rather easy. I tiered vocals as if the “bah bah” samples were charted to vocals, thus a higher tier there as well (I imagine after a while that'd be exhausting ).

I wasn't sure what to expect with the intro, but I think I love this song. You've convinced me, at some point I'm just gonna sit down and listen to this album. I imagine banjo would be charted to guitar, thus raising the tier. I don't know if they'd chart the strings during the choruses, though either way it wouldn't effect the tier much. The drum roll sections are pretty much the reason for the high tier for drums, and bass seems to be very active throughout the song.